Valve announces Steam Machine hardware plans

Valve has announced that the first Steam Boxes, now known as Steam Machines, will be coming from manufacturing partners in 2014 - with 300 of Valve's own prototype systems to reach beta testers this year.

Valve has formally announced its plans to enter the hardware market with Steam Machines, the new name for the Steam Box PC-cum-console, in the second of its three announcements planned for this week.

Following the announcement of SteamOS, a customised gaming-centric operating system based on Canonical's Ubuntu Linux, earlier this week, Valve has confirmed plans to release SteamOS-based hardware dubbed Steam Machines. As previously reported, the company has partnered with numerous other hardware manufacturers to licence the Steam Machine branding and produce a range of hardware devices - but also plans to launch its own Steam Box device somewhat earlier.

Before you get too excited, however: the official Valve Steam Box is to be a strictly limited affair. Ahead of the formal launch of Steam Machines in 2014, Valve has pledged to give 300 official Steam Boxes to Steam Users - completely free of charge.

These prototype systems, the company explains, will allow the company to tailor SteamOS and the Steam Machine concept ahead of the full retail launch some time next year. Each will be completely open and fully upgradeable, taking the form of a compact and low-power SteamOS-based PC, and will become the property of each participant.

To be in with a chance, Valve has posted a list of requirements which includes being a member of the Steam University community group, having at least 10 Steam Friends, and a public Steam Community profile. To ensure that only those who know what to expect are participating, Valve also requires that applicants' Steam Accounts have been used to play a Steam title in Big Picture mode with a gamepad controller at least once. Those interested have until the 25th of October to make their accounts eligible.

The company has also confirmed partnerships with as-yet unnamed manufacturers to produce third-party Steam Machine hardware with a range of specifications, promising everything from microconsole-like low-power systems perfect for streaming game content from a high-performance PC in another room to more powerful boxes with plenty of their own processing power - but has stopped short of releasing names, figures or specifications.

NVIDIA engineers embedded at Valve collaborated on improving driver performance for OpenGL; optimizing performance on NVIDIA GPUs; and helping to port Valve’s award-winning content library to SteamOS; and tuning SteamOS to lower latency, or lag, between the controller and onscreen action.

Maybe im reading to much into this but why would they mention "tuning SteamOS to lower latency, or lag, between the controller and onscreen action."
Does this hint at a Nvidia shield type controller (without the flip up screen), streaming games from your PC ?

Also hinted at was improved Linux support, an area where AMD has traditionally fallen behind its key rival Nvidia. This announcement is particularly intriguing given Valve's announcement yesterday of its Linux-based SteamOS - could an AMD powered Steam box be in the works?

AMD also stated they where working at improving Linux drivers ... this is very confusing :(

Originally Posted by GuilleAcousticAMD also stated they where working at improving Linux drivers ... this is very confusing :(

Well, don't forget that third-parties are also developing steamboxes.

This is going to be very interesting, because hopefully we're going to see stylish/compact/quiet barebones tailored for gaming, without having to pay for Windows. I could buy one to install Ubuntu, XMBC and Steam, instead of SteamOS, without feeling remorse for wasting and extra mandatory 100 on something I won't use (ie Windows), since SteamOS is free. :)

And then throw in the Good-Better-Best structure for hardware.
Good, may = something to stream games from your PC, dirt cheap, no GPU
Better, may = something able to run most games in its own right, around the price of next gen consoles
Best = sky is the limit, performance over cost.

I'm looking at an i7-4765T (4C/8T - 2.0GHz with 3.0GHz turbo - 35W) to replace my Q6600 ... just needing a little GPU, preferably one without PCIe power plug (HD7750 or its replacement, or a GTX650 Synergy from Zotac).

Originally Posted by Gareth Halfacreeplus some drivers from Nvidia (but not, interestingly, AMD.)

If I recall correctly, nvidia have been working on streaming games a lot lately. Both through the cloud and with their hand held device. So perhaps it shouldn't come as much surprise that only Nvidia are mentioned at the moment since game streaming is one of valves goals.

Maybe the steam box will come with some form of Nvidia gpu + a CPU rather than an APU like processor. Maybe even one of NVidias tablet processors for a client type steam box.

Originally Posted by theshadow2001Maybe the steam box will come with some form of Nvidia gpu + a CPU rather than an APU like processor. Maybe even one of NVidias tablet processors for a client type steam box.

Who knows :?

Tegra 4 / 5 ? The low end, streaming only, could be ARM powered. ARM architecture works well on Linux.

ARM is unlikely - at least at launch. There's no SteamOS respository for any ARM architectures - just AMD64 and i386. That's not to say there isn't an internal repository that Valve hasn't opened to the public yet, but the evidence would suggest that the first Steam Machines will be x86 only.

Originally Posted by Griffterdefo not AMD, they too close to the two big players with their chip in both and wiiU

Why should this be an issue? There are a tonne of games available on both console and PC, so developers would prefer to use tech that's common between as many platforms as possible. Going nVidia would mean more fragmentation.

I'm very interested to see what they do with the hardware. I've been looking at building a gaming PC for use in the lounge... Compact, high performance or low cost - pick two. (And when I say "high performance" I mean "high performance relative to consoles"; I don't mean some monstrosity running a 4770K with a GTX Titan or GTX 780.)

To be honest, something they really need to nail is how to rate system specifications. One the of the traditional advantages with a console is that it's a fixed hardware spec: if a game is made for a PS3 then the game will run on your PS3; not always the case with PC gaming. If they're shooting at the console market then they can't put up a description that says "by the way this game needs a Steam Machine or a computer with at least an Intel SuperCoreExtreme 5000 processor with 260 jiggawhatsits of supercooled turboinjectionators". They've already stated that they're going to go with a "Good, Better, Best" rating, so for the love of god stick to it.

People who are customising or building their own hardware will know enough (or learn enough) to figure out what spec they need and where they fall on the "Good, Better, Best" scale (I'm guessing that a fair number of us are probably way beyond "best" already! ;)). But console gamers don't know or care, so make it easy to understand. And that's not to slight or offend people who play games on a console, or imply that they're somehow an entirely different species to people who play games on a PC; my point is that you buy a console so that you don't have to worry about specs.

Oh, and if anyone feels like helping a pathetic loser get to at least 10 friends on Steam then feel free to add me :p.

Originally Posted by Phil RhodesOr as we say in English, low medium and high. Only of course, none of the flat-cap-wearing Tarquins in modern advertising would ever let anyone describe anything using that sort of phrasology.

On the whole I agree with you about marketing, but "good" certainly sounds better than "low" when you're talking about specs/performance.

All this Steam news is exciting, don't get me wrong, but I can't shake the feeling that it's a pity we weren't at this stage 6 or 12 months previous with at least the OS getting released in advance of the new gen of consoles.

Consoles generally take a while to bed in, so it's not like Valve will miss the boat, but all this current hype will soon get drowned out by PS/Xbox chatter.

Originally Posted by Porkins' WingmanAll this Steam news is exciting, don't get me wrong, but I can't shake the feeling that it's a pity we weren't at this stage 6 or 12 months previous with at least the OS getting released in advance of the new gen of consoles.

Consoles generally take a while to bed in, so it's not like Valve will miss the boat, but all this current hype will soon get drowned out by PS/Xbox chatter.

All it needs is HL3/HL2EP3/Whatever-they-want-to-call-it as SteamOS/Steam Machine exclusive. This was discussed just over a year ago... :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLCSomeone else already mentioned it, but all they need to do in order to make it a success is to release Half-Life 3 only on Valve hardware :). I doubt that's something that they'd ever do though... That would make me a very angry bunny indeed.

^i was actually considering the chance that he would wait until 2014 and sell halflife 3 as part of the bundle with the steam machines.... overall it would mean that his taunting number 3 over and over was a way to keep up, and increase in some places, the public interest in the game, and then finally release it and half-life 3 branded steam machines at the same moment.

overall it would be a pretty decent business move since there is a RIDICULOUS following of that game that is bordering the apple cult :|

Originally Posted by blackworxYup. I don't even complete one game a year and I'm desperate for it to come out. GTAV? Meh. HL3? *head explodes*

That's me. I watch for everything Valve does. I haven't been able to get into Dota2 because I have a kid so I can't be stuck in a game for that long, and I feel really crappy sucking at a game and bringing my team down. There's a real learning curve to that game.

So yeah. I play few games and am pretty much disinterested in most games, but I wait and search and predict when and where and how HL3 will be and how it will be released and what the game will be like.

Originally Posted by SnipsMy gaming preference is Keyboard and Mouse, so I will never willingly own one of these machines

Considering it's just a PC running an OS optimized for playing Steam titles, it would be somewhat surprising if you couldn't just plug in a mouse and keyboard.

Reading the write up and other articles, I do think this is aimed at the "TV/Console/HomeEntertainment" market. I guess quite a lot in that market don't sit in front of their 55" TV's on the sofa with a keyboard and mouse. It could easily work as a dual boot on most systems if the OS is made readily available after the release of their console. You could also assume that most don't have a desktop PC for gaming and a PC for everything else. So using it as your only OS on your desktop probably also wont be for everyone, purely based on the compatibility of legacy software and applications.

Originally Posted by Article. Valve has formally announced its plans to enter the hardware market with Steam Machines, the new name for the Steam Box PC-cum-console, in the second of its....... THREE.........announcements planned for this week.

Originally Posted by SnipsSo using it as your only OS on your desktop probably also wont be for everyone, purely based on the compatibility of legacy software and applications.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the rise of the tablet is that compatibility with legacy software has become less of an issue of late. Heck, even Microsoft has seen fit to release an operating system that can't run traditional Windows applications, never mind anybody else.

Taking my workflow - and, I'll grant you, I'm a Linux user so it may be a little different to some - a lot of my work is done in the browser: RSS feed reading, document editing, CMS, email, calendar, notetaking - all take place in Firefox, which is cross-platform. Image editing is done in The Gimp, native but cross-platform, and more complex documents are edited locally using LibreOffice, which is again native but cross-platform.

These days it's perfectly possible for mainstream users to do everything without ever leaving the browser - that's where ChromeOS comes in, after all - even down to using Microsoft Office, which is available as a subscription-based software-as-a-service platform dubbed Office365.

So, thanks to the rise of the cloud, I can imagine that a SteamOS (or any-other-OS-with-a-browser) PC could quite happily deal with the requirements of upwards of 50% of users. Obviously, professionals who are tied in to a particular platform - graphic artists, video editors, pro-grade audio types, programmers targeting a particular platform, that sort of thing - won't be using it as their daily-use PC, but that's OK: that's not who Valve is trying to target.

Not too fussed about buying a Steam Box as a general games machine, I prefer to do my gaming in the man cave (more like a man pothole these as my wife gradually claims it back in small parts) in peace and quiet.

However, if HL3 turns out to be a Steam Box exclusive then I will be forced to buy one, I might even shake an angry fist at Valve for railroading me into doing so and shout "Ba*****s" every time I see any mention of Valve anywhere in the media - but I'll still buy one.

Originally Posted by SnipsReading the write up and other articles, I do think this is aimed at the "TV/Console/HomeEntertainment" market. I guess quite a lot in that market don't sit in front of their 55" TV's on the sofa with a keyboard and mouse. It could easily work as a dual boot on most systems if the OS is made readily available after the release of their console. You could also assume that most don't have a desktop PC for gaming and a PC for everything else. So using it as your only OS on your desktop probably also wont be for everyone, purely based on the compatibility of legacy software and applications.

If you have read write ups and other articles how could you miss that SteamOS is designed for gaming from the sofa, in front of a big TV, in the living room, with a controller ? if you want you could use a K+M as well. People aren't forced to choose between a controller or a K+M the whole point of an open hardware platform is its up to you how you use it.

And why would you want to dual boot ? or replace your current OS ? when the cheapest SB will be nothing more than a terminal streaming games from your PC to your TV ?

I get the feeling Snips is a little worried his/her beloved Microsoft is under serious threat with the raft of recent announcements from Valve and AMD :)

Originally Posted by Corky421) If you have read write ups and other articles how could you miss that SteamOS is designed for gaming from the sofa, in front of a big TV, in the living room, with a controller ? if you want you could use a K+M as well. People aren't forced to choose between a controller or a K+M the whole point of an open hardware platform is its up to you how you use it.

2) And why would you want to dual boot ? or replace your current OS ? when the cheapest SB will be nothing more than a terminal streaming games from your PC to your TV ?

3)I get the feeling Snips is a little worried his/her beloved Microsoft is under serious threat with the raft of recent announcements from Valve and AMD :)

1) Reading the write up and other articles, I do think this is aimed at the "TV/Console/HomeEntertainment" market.

It could easily work as a dual boot on most systems 2) if the OS is made readily available after the release of their console.

3) However, I do agree that a HL3 exclusive would indeed change all of that in an instant

However, nothing the AMD marketing department says would worry anyone since they have such a bad history of BS. But let's keep this on topic shall we?

Originally Posted by SnipsSo using it as your only OS on your desktop probably also wont be for everyone, purely based on the compatibility of legacy software and applications.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the rise of the tablet is that compatibility with legacy software has become less of an issue of late.
/snip
a lot of my work is done in the browser: RSS feed reading, document editing, CMS, email, calendar, notetaking - all take place in Firefox, which is cross-platform. Image editing is done in The Gimp, native but cross-platform, and more complex documents are edited locally using LibreOffice, which is again native but cross-platform.

These days it's perfectly possible for mainstream users to do everything without ever leaving the browser
/snip
So, thanks to the rise of the cloud, I can imagine that a SteamOS (or any-other-OS-with-a-browser) PC could quite happily deal with the requirements of upwards of 50% of users.

This is completely dead on the mark! My PC is pretty much exclusively Chrome and Steam nowadays. Feedly tab for RSS feeds, Gmail tab for emails, Google Play Music tab for MP3s all of which sync to my (android) phone and tablet for out-and-about and sofa browsing. The only other program I use outside of Steam and Chrome is Capture Pro 6 for RAW image editing

If it wasn't for the comfy reclining "executive" computer chair and the 27" Dell Ultrasharp monitor in my "computer room" and the shoddy quality of my TV that is at the bottom of the list of household upgrades, I'd move my PC into my living room! The only thing I'd miss from a Steam Machine would be the image editor but from what I hear, Google+ is getting extremely powerful and "good" at handling RAW processing of late...

Originally Posted by Snips1) Reading the write up and other articles, I do think this is aimed at the "TV/Console/HomeEntertainment" market.

It could easily work as a dual boot on most systems 2) if the OS is made readily available after the release of their console.

3) However, I do agree that a HL3 exclusive would indeed change all of that in an instant

However, nothing the AMD marketing department says would worry anyone since they have such a bad history of BS. But let's keep this on topic shall we?

Putting stuff in bold doesn't change that for some odd reason you think people would need to dual boot or use it as there only OS, or that you think people have to use a controller when sitting on the sofa, when its up to them what they use or how they use it!

What you mean the topic of Steam Machine hardware plans ? if you don't think the recent announcement of Mantel isn't going to affect the hardware of Steam Machine you really need to read some more info about it.

Originally Posted by ArticleThe company has also confirmed partnerships with as-yet unnamed manufacturers to produce third-party Steam Machine hardware with a range of specifications, promising everything from microconsole-like low-power systems perfect for streaming game content from a high-performance PC in another room to more powerful boxes with plenty of their own processing power - but has stopped short of releasing names, figures or specifications.

So what part of Mantel, and new cards coming out from AMD do you think isn't relevant to what hardware OEM's may put in Steam Machine ? or what the specifications of Steam Machines may be ?
If you bothered to read the article i linked to you would read...

Quote:

Low-level access to specific hardware (as opposed to a generic, high-level API like Direct3D) is one of the advantages of console development as it allows for greater optimisation, and if Carmack’s assessment of AMD’s ambition is correct, Mantle will give Steambox – and other PCs – that same advantage.

Discussing Mantel and AMD's upcoming graphics cards has more to do with the topic of Steam Machine hardware plans than discussing speculations on the third announcement being HL3.

The K+M conversation pretty much ended when it was shown that you were incorrect with your claim that the Steam Machine couldn't be used with a K+M and a controller.

And the "speculation on the ARM/INTEL/NVIDIA/AMD inner workings" isn't speculation as both OEM's and people doing there own build can put what ever the hell they like in it, that's the whole point of open source software teamed with a open hardware platform.

Yet again you've ruined a topic with your effort to try and start a pissing contest on absolutely nothing to do with the actual topic.

You clearly seem to think that any AMD marketing announcement needs to be linked to every other topic, regardless of relevance.

Read my posts again, I never said you could not use a Keyboard/Mouse.

So if "OEM's and people doing there own build can put what ever the hell they like in it, that's the whole point of open source software teamed with a open hardware platform." Why is it relevant to link this topic to AMD's current marketing campaign?

In fact, don't answer and let's save THIS topic for people to actually comment on it's content and the RELEVANT comments made to it.

Discussing the implications that Mantel and new cards may have on the upcoming Steam Machines in a topic called Valve announces Steam Machine hardware plans is more on topic than wishing for a game to be announced.
Maybe you need to discus HL3 in a more appropriate thread, in the Gaming section.http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=263530
And not in a thread meant to discuss the Steam Machine hardware plans.

Trying to claim its "AMD marketing" when Mantel was announced on the tech day, with developers discussing how they are implementing into frostbite 3 and myself linking to articles explaining the impact it may have on PC gaming and Steam Machine hardware is anything but marketing, its facts. Mantel could have a massive effect on how OEM's and people design Steam Machines as it could mean lower system requirements, lower spec hardware = cheaper

And while you never directly said you cant use a K+M, you suggest you couldn't so much so that someone else had to correct you.

Go back and read what's been said before you embarrass yourself any further.

When someone shows a total lack of understanding on the subject they are talking about then their misunderstanding needs to be corrected.
Perhaps you should take your own advise about keeping it on topic and re-read the thread to see how factually incorrect and off topic you have been.

Well I still stand by my opinion that an official Steambox won't be an interesting prospect. The interesting part is all in the OS, not the box. Any box they make will just be another console, only this one will play some steam titles, and not AAA ones on max settings either or the cost is prohibitive.

On the other hand, I'm quite looking forward to the OS. On the NUC Bit-Tech/Intel sent, I've installed Ubuntu as the SSD is just tiny, however, Steam OS would be a great option. That is, if the Steam streaming service would work over a local wireless connection (can't imagine why they wouldn't allow that). Having the NUC as both a media and Steam streamer would be grand.

Originally Posted by Maki roleWell I still stand by my opinion that an official Steambox won't be an interesting prospect. The interesting part is all in the OS, not the box. Any box they make will just be another console, only this one will play some steam titles, and not AAA ones on max settings either or the cost is prohibitive.

On the other hand, I'm quite looking forward to the OS. On the NUC Bit-Tech/Intel sent, I've installed Ubuntu as the SSD is just tiny, however, Steam OS would be a great option. That is, if the Steam streaming service would work over a local wireless connection (can't imagine why they wouldn't allow that). Having the NUC as both a media and Steam streamer would be grand.

Well it's not going to be very interesting to us, the computer enthusiast. It'll just be a small underpowered PC running some sort of Linux.

But then it's not really aimed at us. Well, not unless a PC gamer wants to plug a box into his or her TV and play watered down games.

It's aimed at the console market, which is in a bit of a mess. What I mean is consoles are slowly being given the heave ho for tablets and so on (even though I can't stand the retched things !). Not only that but console games are really expensive due to licensing fees. It's perfectly plausible that Valve could either cut those out or eliminate them (I'm pretty sure they can't charge one if it uses Linux? though I'm not quite sure on that sort of legal wrangling).

Originally Posted by Gareth HalfacreeThe FAQ on the official page, linked from the article, specifically address this: you can use a keyboard and mouse just fine on a Steam Machine.

Thank you! ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnipsReading the write up and other articles, I do think this is aimed at the "TV/Console/HomeEntertainment" market. I guess quite a lot in that market don't sit in front of their 55" TV's on the sofa with a keyboard and mouse. It could easily work as a dual boot on most systems if the OS is made readily available after the release of their console. You could also assume that most don't have a desktop PC for gaming and a PC for everything else. So using it as your only OS on your desktop probably also wont be for everyone, purely based on the compatibility of legacy software and applications.

I don't see it as being as popular as controllers, but I can't resist making the comment that PCs aren't locked into a single input device whenever controller vs. KB/M comes up. All hail the master race.

I welcome Valve's approach to openness. Hopefully it's not just a marketing ploy. In an age where the main players go out of their way to prevent backwards compatibility and hacking, I really hope this takes off and initiates a long-term alternative option for consumers.

Originally Posted by SnipsIt could easily work as a dual boot on most systems 2) if the OS is made readily available after the release of their console.

I'm hoping it's available before the release of their hardware, will be interesting to see what they've done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlienwareAndyBut then it's not really aimed at us. Well, not unless a PC gamer wants to plug a box into his or her TV and play watered down games.

Funny, I did just that this morning; I didn't lug my main rig into the lounge, I used the HTPC/light gaming machine that's already in the lounge. I didn't think XCOM would ever work without a keyboard and mouse, but it worked just fine with an Xbox 360 controller (admittedly XCOM was also released on consoles so it was probably optimised anyway, but that's not my point). Didn't feel "watered down" or unnatural at all. Granted you won't catch me using that awful-looking thing Valve just announced, or an Xbox 360 controller, for an FPS, MMORPG, etc.

You've already got a great gaming PC? kthxbye, nice talking to you, nothing to see here. Just because TVs don't go above 1080p that doesn't mean that anything played on a TV is "watered down" or that you need insane hardware to get games looking good at 1080p; don't be such a snob, graphics aren't everything.